Caras is so into animals. He has studied and researched them, but more importantly, he has lived with and loved them. Here he pours forth on what one must consider one of his favorites, cats. He's had much personal experience, and has investigated the subject thoroughly, and thus has much to offer.

One can learn much about cats from this read. For example, I never knew that kittens were atricocious at birth, their eyes and ears are shut. Also, Caras' theory about cats and dogs finding their way home by sensing magnetic fields is utterly fascinating, and could be true.

Curiosity and the cat is intriguing. Sensing the info a cat must accumulate and act upon instantly for safety and survival seems relevant. Caras shares the size ratio issue as basis for this. Made me think about the first time our 8 lb. cat saw our 120 lb. Great Pyrenees. Ran and hid for days, only later to become the dog's best and trusted friend. The ratio here is 15 times greater for the dog. Consider how the cat then sees me; 22 times bigger, similar to my viewing a creature that was 22 times heavier than me, or around two tons! What a creature to watch and observe, to know when to scramble for my life so the thing wouldn't crush me, and know its moods thoroughly.

A great read for cat lovers.

This is a great follow up to Roger Caras' A CELEBRATION OF CATS which I have also reviewed. In the first book, he gives an overview of the history, geneology, and psychology of the cat and of the cat's relationship with humans. In this book, he zeroes in on understanding of the cat and on seeking the cat's perspective.

The first few chapters deal with the biological makeup of the cat and with the cat's basic five senses. Much of this we already must realize. Some senses including that of smell and that of hearing are superior to our own, and much of the cat's behavior can be understood by realizing how their senses present our world to them. From that foundation, Caras' goes into cat psychology and discusses a number of issues such as how cats tell time, how many know how to get home if lost, and much more. Such topics as how cats respond to music, their thinking abilities, and even their emotions such as love and hate are examined. For those who have read A CELEBRATION OF CATS, there is little repetition, just what is necessary for those who haven't read it as a basis for the thrust of this volume.

Not all questions that are discussed are answered. Caras presents possibilities and leaves it to us to decide.

Also, Caras tends to demystify many of the "mysteries" surrounding cats, but this demystification tends to heighten one's respect for the cat's uncanny abilities. Certain aspects, such as whether or not cats have ESP, are left for the reader to decide.

The book is profusely illustrated with drawings, reproductions of artwork, and photographs, and as in the previous book, there is humor. Caras draws on many authorities and on personal experience in presenting us with an entertaining, educational, and thought provoking work.

As much as I enjoyed the previous book, A CELEBRATION OF CATS, I found this to be even better. Any person with one or more cats in her or his life should gain a lot from this, and I quite recommend your reading it.

This is a great book for anyone who has or had or doesn't have a cat. If you want to know anything about a cat get this book. It tells you why they act the way they act and explains the mystery of the cat. It is full of interesting stories you will love. I can't put the book down

I have read the entire series of amber novels and this book left more unfinished business behind than all the others. Masterfully written by Zelany it filled me with couriousity makeing it a diffucult book to put down. Upon reading the final words I immeadieatly jumped on the net to see if there was a eleventh book. Finding there was not I was dishartend. This book capped of a sereis of spine-tingling adventure in an unusual way leading down to the best showdown ever. Now that I have completed this seris I think I shall go and read them over again. I would recomend these books to anyone I already have several of my freinds reading the series.

The Chronicles of Amber are the most masterfully written books in all of bookdom. I really enjoy reading them. I have read them all and keep reading them when i finish. I just can't stop thinking how good they are. I am hoping for another series. When I read the first five, I was blown away. That someone had the imagination to create such a magical world and call ours a shadow, was something I did not think possible. Not that I could have thought of it. Roger Zelazny, i believe, is the best author of science fiction/fantasy in the world. In the back of my mind, i always though that maybe he actually was someone from Amber. That he came here to tell a story about his life or his reletives. Having the power of the Pattern or the Logrus would be a great asset. I could sure use a pizza right about now. It would help if i didn't have to pay for it either. If I could just put my hands in the air and pluck it out of the nether...hehehe...

Son of Corwin (Amber series) goes to college in USA (Earth-shadow) and gets into all sorts of strange adventures. Merlin's computer (is this a throw-back to Illuminatus) is a great help or is it? Or should I say he? If you liked the Amber series you'll enjoy this. It is different. Merlin isn't Corwin and has a lot more naivitie (may irritate some readers) but it's the hero going out into the world to find ... what? Himself? His father? Who's trying to kill him? The world jumping is different from shadow-walking. I reccommend readers trying some world jumping themselves - it's amazing what can happen!

This series is great. This book is not. If you read this book, when compared to the other Amber novels, you will understand why this book is a disappointment.

First, this book has two stories within it. I could be wrong, but it seems like the stories found here were parts of a magazine series put together to form one book. The first story, outside of some of the same characters, has little to do with the second story found here. As such, I will treat each story seperately and judge them accordingly.

If you can, skip the first story. It was horrible. It lacked every good quality which made the first book such a classic. In the first book Corwin, with no memory and recovering from an assassination attempt, still manages to gather forces together which eventually allow him to challenge his brother Eric for the thrown of Amber. When he loses, his eyes are cut out and his is imprisoned for life. While he does suffer, he still dreams of revenge and eventually escapes from prison with the hopes of attacking and beating Eric in the future. In every sense of the word, Corwin is a hero.

In this book, Corwin is a coward. He runs away from Amber to Avalon. While there, he seems to be afraid of one of his old henchmen, Ganelon, who is the leader of a group of men he finds there. Eventually revealing himself to Ganelon, they join force to fight a strange foe found in the forest. This story is a "2" in my eyes. It was predictable. It was boring. It added nothing to this series.

The second story, however, is much better. Corwin, trying to return to Amber, mets one of his brothers. He also plans again for the thrown and mets someone who may be his brother's granddaughter. He fights and runs, but seems to regain some of the character found in the first book.

I have read book 3, and the second part of this book leads nicely into it. It is only for this reason that I would recommend reading this book. Since the whole series, overall, is quite good, I just thought those of you who might get discouraged by the beginning of this book should take note: it does get better. Zelazany is a good writer, he just was a little off beat in the first story.

Guns of Avalon is a truly worthy sequel to the Nine Princes of Amber. What makes this book so fun is Zelazny tells his tale in a completely different tenor and tone then the first book. In the first book we had no idea what was going on. We were as lost as the main character is through out the book. In this novel the main Character, Corwin, is more aware of events and so we are allowed, as the reader, to be more aware of events.

I think it is a remarkable coincidence that I had just picked up "The Fabric of Reality" by David Deutsch just prior to reading this novel and it is remarkable how well Deutshe's theory of Multiverses fits into the Amber Chronicles. Don't get me wrong. I am not one of those people who wish to make their favorite fantasy into reality, but thinking scientifically while reading a classic fantasy yarn was very enjoyable.

A worthy sequel to Nine Princes of Amber. This, and most of Zelazny's novels, are usually out of print. It would be worthwhile to attempt to get a copy of this book either through Amazon's out print book search or your local used books store. Good luck.

As if it wasn't enough that many of the incidents in this volume set the stage for all the Amber books to follow; as if it wasn't enough that his use of language conjures images of majesty, grandeur and, yes, low animal cunning, I found Zelazny's use of the writerly technique foreshadowing (no pun intended) awe-inspiring. Everything builds from here - Corwin's memories of Moire and his brief affair with Lorraine lead up to his encounter with Dara and suggest the direction that will eventually lead. Corwin's adventures with the Black Circle forge his decisions about duty, kingship, and that which lies beyond the Black Road. While Nine Princes in Amber could be a stand-alone novel, this book is the linchpin which holds together all the Amber books to come.

As one of the poets featured in Will Work for Peace, one might expect me to be a bit biased, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Most poets work in a virtual vacuum, only tenuously connected to each other by the occasional workshop or shared membership in a 'poetry society'. When Brett Axel first approached me for a submission to an anthology he was considering, the names Marge Piercy, Lyn Lifshin, Moshe Bennaroch and so many others were abstractions to me as a fledgling poet. I knew these tremendous writers were 'out there' somewhere, beating down doors with their words and keeping a struggling artform alive. But to think that someday I would ever share a credit with these dynamic modern poets would be a pipe dream at best. It is through the sincere efforts of Brett Axel that many newer voices like mine have an extraordinary opportunity to appear with Pulitzer Prize winners and other poetic heavyweights. By way of an honest review, however, I will say this- not everything in this book will be to your particular liking. I myself came across some works that did not move me in the way the author may have intended. Some imagery can be raw and visceral, using shock value in place of craft at times. But to ignore those voices would be an even more shocking turn of events, so praise be to the editor for not sacrificing his vision to a senseless conformity. As Pete Seeger so aptly put it in his quote, trying to read all these poems at one time would be like trying 'to swallow Manhattan whole'. I say to you- buy this book, read this book, but understand that it's what you do after reading this book that will ultimately define who you could be. Poetry is alive and well, and lives in the blunt pages of Will Work for Peace.

Just amazing start to finish! I like the disregard for fame used in putting the book together. That great poems got in even if they were writtenby nobodys. Look at Roger Bonair-Agard's poem on page 74. Shortly after Will Work For Peace came out he won Slam Nationals, becoming Slam Champion of 1999, which will be getting him lots of offers. But Zeropanik Press didn't need to be told he was good by an award. They could tell by his writing! Good for them and good for all of us because Will Work For Peace is a literary milestone. It's a new standard for all future anthology editors to try to live up to. Thumbs up to Brett Axel and Thumbs up to Zeropanik Press for their guts and integrty.

Brett Axel visited my Church and I bought a copy of Will Work For Peace from him, not for poetry, but because I care about working for peace. I started reading through it thinking It'd just go on my shelf and that'd be the end of it, but the book grabbed me and kept me rivited. If I had known that poetry was this alive I'd have been into poetry. I've been reading some of the poems to my friends who also didn't think poetry was important and they are saying the same thing. Fantastic! There's no way to get through this book without having your old mindsets challenged. It's funny, powerful, sad, and uplifting. A book that deserves to be read by everyone. A book that really can make the world a better place!

While I read this book, I found it rather, well, "blah." The characters weren't particularily interesting, the murder wasn't anything spectacular, the setting was unoriginal, etc. The writing consisted almost entirely of dialogue. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing really BAD about this book. But it's nothing very special either. Though I must admit, the ending was fairly unpredictable. The problem was that after going over the actions of the murderer before (he/she) was found out, most of them don't make sense. (He/she) did some pretty dumb things, things which no intelligent person who had commited a murder would do. So in general, I would describe this book as "decent." That's all. On a side note this is the first Agatha Christie novel I've read. I don't plan on reading another in the near future.

This book is my first Agatha Christie novel, and I must say that it lives fully up to its expectations. Christie weaves a beatiful tale of a murder that can keep anyone guessing. In fact the book had a lasting effect on me, as I kept replaying the events of the murder and the actions of other characters in my head even after I finished the book. It was that mezmerizing!

I truly loved the way in which suspicion was cast on almost every character in the book. I began to look rather cautiously at the characters for fear of mentally befriending the wrong person. Christie's magic was so good that I was even beginning to think that everyone ganged up together to murder the poor Mr. Ackroyd. I especially was attracted to the cute little Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, who seems to possess a certain wizardry and deep intuition when it comes to mysteries and unearthing the truth.

The ending is indeed a surprise - as I understand is Christie's trademark. I only wish I read the book twice (both times up until the point of the revealing of the murderer) so as to make a good guess as to who the murderer really was. Oh well, perhaps I'll save that for the next Agatha Christie special.

I have never read an Agatha Christie novel before this, and I must say that she does live up to all the hype and talk I have heard. The book was absolutely fabulous -- with an intriguing and engaging plot, surprising moments, and good insight into the characters and motives. I found myself continually replaying the events of the novel in my head after reading the novel in wonder and awe of how such a murder could take place. I also fell in love with the cute Belgian invesigator, Hercule Poirot -- who in some ways seems to possess a certain instinct and subtlety in his manners which many other detectives seem to lack. The books is a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to expose himself to one of the foundations of the mystery genre.

I'm a MBA student in marketing. This book is good, but just that... good. I'm absolutely certain that somewhere has to be a book about strategic marketing that has a little more information (that's the problem, little theory and plenty of numbers) and not so expensive. Teresa M. Rodríguez

I am a MBA Candidate with a finance focus who had the pleasure to use this book. Never before had I imagined that marketing could have the amount of numerical focus that this book shows. There's a case for every type of industry and many world-famous companies in this book. What else is missing from an introduction to marketing text?!

I am a huge fan of the Amber series. The characters are well developed and the plot forces you to read on. For anyone who hasn't read the original series that begins with "The Nine Princes of Amber," read them. They are spellbinding literature.

This novel is no different. I sat reading for hours, literally unable to put the book down. Its words carried me to places beyond this reality. However, there is a huge drawback to this book. You will become hooked on a series without a clear resolution. The final book in the "Amber" series, "The Prince of Chaos," fails to tie up some necessary loose ends and leaves you asking questions like, "What happened to Corwin and the new Pattern?" This is a great book and a riveting series. Still I must say, shame on you Roger Zelazny for not giving me the closure I so deperately needed. Your loyal fans deserve more.

Trumps of Doom marks the return to the setting of Roger Zelazny's Amber series. The first five books told the story of Corwin, prince of Amber. This sixth book in the saga deals with Corwin's son Merlin. Having spent a number of years on our earth, Merlin has been dealing with a series of assassination attempts. As he tries to resolve the issue he is drawn into a deeper plot threatening the very heart of reality, Amber itself. If you have not read any of Zelazny's Amber novels previously I highly recommend them. I found this to be one of the most exciting, becoming even more so as this second series progresses. Merlin is a much easier character to relate to as he is a little more like an average person. All of the characters of Corwin's generation are a little too experienced, cynical, and aware for the average person to empathize with. Merlin on the other hand bumbles his way through a number of problems, often surviving through sheer luck. While powerful he is a a much easier character to relate to.

of course merlin isn't corwin, thank god, if he was then what would be the point of a "sequel series"? i found this book to be the most interesting of books 6-10 other than the 9th book in the series. granted the "2nd series of the amber chronicles" isn't as inspired or original as books 1-5, but its still way better than most of the other sci-fi/fantasy novels out there! zelazny always seemed to be on top of his form, he never betrayed his style and ceaselessly used "logical" surprises, not contrived surprises, as well as incorporating a sense of humor. the only qualm i have about the book is that its too short!!!

In an age when Americans either lionize the founders and perform idolatry on them (see David McCullough) or disparage these men as hopelessly racist and dysfunctional, Wilkins performs another great service for his fellow Americans- he sees these men clearly for what they were and still are. Studying four Virginians (Jefferson, Mason, Madison and Washington), Wilkins looks at their writings and their culture and draws out their views on freedom and slavery. Comparing these views with their acts toward black Americans and the culture of 18th century slave-holding Virginia, he sees this quartet as both shaping and shaped by the world in which they live. They are Americans after all, with all the complexity and idealism that comes with being a thoughtful American. Of the four, Jefferson perhaps gets knocked around the most, but then he deserves such treatment more than his fellows. But Wilkins is not interested in scoring points against these men; rather, he seeks to understand why such educated and thoughtful men could build a nation with a great and wicked contradiction at its heart- the existence of slavery in a land devoted, on its face, to freedom. As usual, Wilkins does not remain in the 18th century but draws parallels to our own day. His subjects remain models for liberals (in the eighteenth century meaning of the word) all around the world today, fighting for basic human liberties in both awful and wealthy places. Americans cannot help but be products of these men on some level, for all that we think of as American has in part been passed down through the hands and minds of these men. To understand his four Virginians is to begin to understand our own times, in both its marvelous ideals and its unfulfilled promises.

In writing both economical and eloquent, Roger Wilkins reclaims the founders and patriotism for all Americans. Looking at the Virginia founders -- Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Mason -- Wilkins probes the the tension they lived between "earned guilt and aspiration to honor," between living privileged lives built on the horror of slavery, and calling forth a nation based on the proposition that "all men are created equal" and endowed with inalienable rights. Wilkins shows how blacks -- free and unfree -- played a major role in the revolution. With the perspective of a life devoted to making America better, he praises the founders for "their greatest legacy": a government "wrapped in the aura of freedom and limited by a devotion to rights" that created the field that allows each generation to work to extend freedom and equality. Wilkins probes the founders, neither airbrushing their flaws nor ignoring their genius. This is the testament of an honest and wise patriot. I recommend it highly.

Overall, Wilkins provides outstanding insight into the schism between the equality espoused in the Declaration of Independence and the reality of the world in the late 18th Century. He, I believe, seems to clearly understand the extraordinary tension between the idealism of men like Adams (and even Jefferson), economic survival (as seen by the proponents of slavery) of Washington, Mason, Jefferson and Madison and the arrogance of 18th, 19th and 20th Century Christian superiority. Wilkins is proud to be an American, and accepts all the profound ideals and warts that go into making as all Americans today. We have certainly come a long way, but we still have a way to go. Wilkins deals only briefly with his view (in favor of) of reparations for slavery. His monograph certainly supports his view. An excellent read.

The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green is a brilliant retelling of the Robin Hood tales. All of the stories are here. Robin's fight with Little John is related, as is the archery contest, Robin's love affair with Marion, and the wedding of Allan-a-Dale. All of the characters like Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Little John, Maid Marion, and (guess what!) Robin Hood make their appearances. Overall, the tales are well told, and the book is very complete. My favorite portion of this edition is the prologue in which the author writes from where the stories are derived. There, I was turned to Thomas Love Peacock's brilliant, if forgotten, tales of Robin Hood entitled Maid Marian. This edition will help to keep the adventures of Robin Hood in the minds of children for another generation.

I read this book when I was a kid, and I can't recommend it highly enough to parents and kids who are looking for classic high adventure. It's timeless, yet provides good role models for boys (Robin Hood was the original cool do-gooder) and for girls, since Roger Greene's Maid Marian is more than a match for Robin with sword and bow and arrow.

I first read this book when I was 8 years old. Again at 10, again at 15, again at 20, and I just bought a new copy for my library from Amazon. There is no film, short of the John Irvin classic with Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman, that comes close to telling the tale. I've always had an affinity for this novel, and have shared it with many of my friends. Great for children, as well as grown up children. Just plain good reading.

While the idea behind the Friends of Ed series is admirable and useful - that is, to cover the broad and expansive areas of Flash development that are not so well documented elsewhere - the books so far have been spoiled by the inconsistent quality of their ActionScript.

Too often, I get the feeling that authors that have been invited to contribute have simply re-worked a pre-existing project - and this all too often includes (the usual) hacks and workarounds which all of us use when faced with deadlines. Bits and pieces of Flash4 ActionScript creep in every now and again - and occassionally the authors seem to be entirely unaware of new methods introduced in Flash5 that make their workarounds obsolete (the onClipEvent for loaded data is one example - see Chapt 9 of this book to learn how to do it the *old* way).

Furthermore, the tutorials often lack focus - as though the editors can't decide where to pitch the level of instruction: so that some hard-core ActionScript is often mixed-in with superfluous detail about how to build the interface for the tutorial example.

Anyway, my advice if you really want to *learn* ActionScript for yourself - and also avoid the mistakes, hacks and workarounds that plague the Friends of Ed books - put Phillip Kerman's excellent "ActionScripting in Flash" together with Colin Moock's "ActionScript: The Definitive Guide" on your desk - you'll never look back.

If you are a newbie,......their are other alternatives that will get your feet wet, but if you are a practicing Flash developer and have a firm understanding of ActionScript...this book will inspire you to build real dynamic Flash apps. It touches on Flash Javascript methods, Flash and textfiles and goes into server side middleware solutions like, CGI,Perl and PHP. It also introduces you to database integration. This book gives you real world solutions, which maybe a bit elementary, but overall it lays the foundation for you. I found this book to be inspiring and to be the book which pushed me to learn CGI,PERL,PHP and MySQL. If your looking to build real dynamic/interactive Flash applications or websites this is the book.

I've bought numerous books on Flash and the Dynamic Scripting that can be intermingled with Flash.... Flash 5 ActionScript F/X and Design, Flash 4 Creative Web Animation, and different Wrox books on ASP, ASP databases, and ADO. This book ties ALL of them together. It explains motion scripting for beginners, and then it shows how to import variables from ASP, PHP, Perl, and Cold Fusion. These 1000+ pages contain EVERYTHING you want to know about Flash, it it with out a doubt, THE BEST FLASH BOOK EVER CREATED!!!! It even branches out Flash to other programs like Dreamweaver UltraDev and Generator, it explains how to display information from databases using Flash Turbine. If you read this book, you will be a master at Flash.